Amundsons

A little bit of this, a little bit of that including: birthday parties with a Balloon Clown and not just a Balloon Clown that makes wiener dogs... but creations out of this world, including Cinderella. (what in the world) Hat season for bald heads. Charlies first swimming lessons. She did amazing. She was really comfortable in the water and just about worked through all of the skills. She should have been proud, but when Daddy asked, "Did you learn how to swim?" she said, "no, all I can do is blow bubbles." Claire continued to make friends where ever she could. the 4th of July came and went pretty quickly.

So we are no longer roaming around the countryside. We bought a beautiful house, that we love. I could go on and on about it but I will start with the 3 things that I love the most(est). 1. its old. Like crazy old. Like crazy built during the Civil War old. Our neighbor told us that whenever he walks by the house he waits for Abe Lincoln to walk out on the balcony. Love that. 2. I love the front porch. As soon as it isn't 120 degrees outside I may start enjoying it more. But I love a beautiful front porch when you walk into a house. 3. The most amazing stairwell and banister ever. With old houses you get super cool features, and this is one of my favorites. I have dreams of little girls practicing their pirouettes. Claire is giving it a shot.

Charlotte ended her first year of preschool in St. Louis at the end of May (yes it is July, I know). I have always been a big advocate for public schools. Now to be clear I am not anti- private schools or anti home school or christian or charter or boarding or beauty schools... I'm not anti any sub-group of schools. I'm just anti-schools that aren't working, and I have always felt that more public schools are working than people give them credit. BUT all this was prior to having children, and it is much easier to stand on a soap box when you don't have two children up there with you. I often wondered if that would change when I had my own. You know kind of a "put your money where your mouth is" type of situation. Only "putting your kid" is sometimes harder than your money. So when Jake and I were looking for preschools, I knew we needed to try the local public pre-school. WOW. They were amazing. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. So here is a little pre-test...

So much going on that I am having a very difficult time keeping up with feeding the dog, let alone blog. However, I had to post about my sweet brothers amazing wedding, the rest of all the crazy details of our life will have to wait, but this seemed the most important. Uncle Adam got married and Charlotte got to live out her dream of being a flower girl. ("Mama, it is so important. if I am not there, they WONT. HAVE. ANY. FLOWERS!!!"). She has some pretty clear self-aggrandizing ideas developing early. Clair got to wear a hat... hang out with Aunt Barb, and suck on a doll. Happy happy girl. Adam keep saying he was relaxed and good. Which was so apparent according to this picture :) Charlotte's moment. August being so cute that I wanted to eat his sweet little face. The line up and then... Beautiful Leah. What an amazing bride she made. This shawl is from Scotland and has been passed down for generations in Leah's family for wedding ceremonies. The bride and g...